“One Decade”

by Mara Weiss & Nego Beto

Published in The Beat Magazine February 2005

The 10th year of our guardianship of the Brazil Beat column draws to a close, and the music never stops! With special columns devoted to Gilberto Gil, Brazilian reggae and Brazilian electronica this year, there is some great music that hasn’t gotten attention yet, and beyond that a pile of new CDs seems to have just materialized. Frankly, they all deserve to be reviewed. So that’s what we are going to do. At the risk of wasting valuable space on babble, we’ll just get straight to the music!

Bits Sessions (Nikita Music) Bits Mag is an online magazine for Brazilian dance/electronic music and culture. Bits Sessions represents fresh talent of DJ-producers, the sounds that are coming out of the clubs in SP, RJ and beyond. There is no trying to capitalize on the bossa-lounge fad here; these are 100% dance floor fillers, which get tech-ier the deeper you venture into the CD. “Rain” from BrazilBeat Sound System (yours truly!) carries an ethereal vocal atop growling bass. DJ Malocca teams up with singer Clara Moreno for “Pra Dar a Liga.” All of the songs can be downloaded via www.imusica.com.br (which incidentally, is a fantastic resource for legally downloading Brazilian music).

Jorge Benjor Reactivus Amor Est (Universal Latino) The king of suingue illuminates again with a new work crystalizing his seminal style. Suingue is a breed of funky samba that became popular in the ‘60s, Benjor emerging as its greatest purveyor. The word also has a more general meaning: “Que suingue!” means a song is danceable. And Benjor’s suingue is as strong as ever before. His songwriting dominated, as always, by fascinating females and references to the Afro-Brazilian diety São Jorge/Ogum, Benjor lays down a fasttrack to the dance floor, and don’t forget to grab your partner. Good stuff!

Cabruera O Samba da Minha Terra (Nikita Music) The essence of the nordeste (northeast) region of Brazil has often been said to be distilled in the culture of the cordel, a mixture of spoken word and music. In outdoor markets one can still buy the little books of poems written by locals, which are a tradition. The shrewd poetry of Cabruera has been shaped into baião, forró, maracatu and even makulelê numbers, replete with percussion and infused with the newer languages of dub, rock and electronica. Highly recommended.

Paula Morelenbaum Berimbaum (Universal Latino) Wife of cellist and producer/arranger Jaques Morelenbaum, Paula shows she is a star in her own right with this release. A tribute to Vinicius de Moraes, Berimbaum takes the obvious standards and makes them not quite so obvious with Paula’s warm breathy voice and production props from Leo Gandelman and the boys from Bossacucanova. Jaques takes a back seat as a musician, and Paula seizes the reins with excellent results. It really is a great album, vivid and complex, a relief after the mediocrity of the Quarteto Jobim-Morelenbaum album project a couple of years ago.

One Million Dollars Energy State (Sugarlicks) For vibrant grooves and chill-out of the highest quality, look no farther than this extraordinary band. The 11-piece ensemble favors samba-tinged funk, soul and jazz, propped up by massive horn arrangements. The Brazilian wing is led by Robson Santos, who sings and plays berimbau and harmonica. Memorable tracks include the upbeat “Who You Are” and “Musica Na Cabeça” and the slow, sexy “Black Cat Shuffle.”

Monica Salmaso Iaiá (World Village) Need to slow the world down a little bit? With her vocals which are at once languid and radiant, Monica Salmaso summons the air of a small town in the interior of Brazil. Songs like “Moro na Roça” and “Estrela de Oxum” comb soothing fingers through frazzled nerves, and capture a sense of innocence and purity with an acoustic feel.

Gilles Peterson Gilles Peterson in Brazil (Either Records) As far as DJs go, Gilles Peterson is a legend from the South London airwaves to clubs worldwide. He fuelled the jazz scene of the ‘80s and nurtured the budding funk and broken beat movements on a highly fortified diet of hard jazz and percussion-driven Brazilian fusion. This 2-CD set he compiled divides itself into “Classico” (classic) and “Da Hora” (new). Classico opens with the sulky deadpan of Wilson Simonal singing “Não Vem Que Não Tem,” and spreads it wings with track after sun-drenched track of bossa and jazzy tangents. Da Hora reads like a who’s who of Brazilian electronica.”Moments of Lust” from DJ Marky and XRS is a powerful drum-n bass thumper that has already been seeing international rotation. We also like Patricia Marx’s “Menino” and the entries from Drumagick and Otto.

Afrodizia Mutação (Marine Music) Highly charged with the fire of Jah, Afrodizia combines youthful energy with a love of roots reggae, exploding forth with their own brand of reggae-pop. They are all good musicians, and the instrumentation, decidedly upbeat, carries the album. Quino from Big Mountain is the star guest here with vocals on “Reggeiro de Jah” but our preferred track is the capoeira-styled “Levanta Cá a Poeira.”

Ana Caram Hollywood Rio (Chesky) If favorite movie soundtracks transformed into bossa-nova is your cup of tea, then Hollywood Rio is your CD. Caram’s voice is satiny and sleek, caressing the Technicolor tunes. “Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head” and “As Time Goes By” (from Casablanca) are quite lovely, as is her own composition “Tempero Brasileiro.”

Rough Guide to Brazilian Hip Hop (World Music Network) With a robust scene flourishing in São Paulo, Rio and other urban centers, there is rich content for a Brazilian hip hop comp. Sadly this one missed the mark. Hip hop and rap’s impact on and integration into MPB (Música Popular Brasileira) is a compelling topic, but a bit clumsily represented here, focusing on the wrong people. Multi-faced musician Andre Abujamra is not a leader of Brazilian hip hop (though it would seem so looking at the insert) and an adaptation by Elza Soares of the Veloso-Gil song “Haiti” doesn’t belong either. A remix of Chico Science’s “Roda Rodete Rodiano” does work well. New talent is widely represented, with fresh sounds from Stereo Maracanã, Xis and others, although semantics would have us question whether much of it should be termed “hip hop.” And there are some strong cuts like “Sr. Tempo Bom” from Thaide & DJ Hum (true pioneers of rap in Brazil) and “Tá Rimando” from Potential 3. But without names like Racionais MCs, Planet Hemp, Gabriel O Pensador, Pavilhão 9, etc. this album just doesn’t have the legitimacy to represent Brazilian hip hop to the world.

Nova Ordem Musical (Nikita Music) This eclectic compilation is a harbinger of the future, a mixed bag of rising MPB talent, with a nod to electronica. The straight-up funk and sincere voice of Aleh makes “Dona da Banca” a real winner, easily the pick of the record. Tatiana Dauster and Lula Queiroga also make a strong case for the “new musical order.”

The Pulse of Brasil (ARC Music) Brazil is such an immense nation, and great variation in musical styles exists between the different regions. This compilation endeavors to give a little bit of everything. Bezerra da Silva rolls a fatty and explains why he won’t light up just yet, in his most popular song “Malandragem Da um Tempo,” a classic samba. Pagode-samba comes care of Grupo Raça, and forró from the legendary Genival Lacerda, a very entertaining number “Severina Xique-Xique.” Luis Avelar has the impossible job of representing bossa-nova, but he summons a lot of class with a rendition of Djavan’s “Aquele Um.” The axé tracks are best left unmentioned, and you may want to fast-forward past them altogether. A well-intentioned and mostly enjoyable collection.

Thank you to all the readers. We love ya! Feel free to send feedback to brazilbeat@brazilbeat.org. One Love.